


coming undone

by StraightOnTilMorning (straightontilmorning)



Category: One Direction (Band), Taylor Swift (Musician)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Self Harm, Trigger Warnings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-03
Updated: 2013-12-06
Packaged: 2017-11-23 12:00:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/621896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/straightontilmorning/pseuds/StraightOnTilMorning
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>things change and friends leave. life doesn't stop for anybody.<br/>it's always the one you least expect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> wow this is both of our first posts to ao3 tbh im nervous idk about elsa (that's Belledame) but we hope you like it.  
> also all of the chapters tend to be pretty short  
> also i (rachel) suck bye

Harry looked around the room. It was white, the walls were blank, yet if gave off an eerie mood, and it was actually _too_ quiet.

Harry looked at the desk in front of him. It was big and wooden and had papers scattered all over it. He saw a picture of a pretty woman and a baby, both looking as happy as they could be. He noticed that the frame around it had the words "Forever and Always" carved into it.

Harry looked at himself. His leg was bouncing and his thumbs were circling each other. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest and he felt a twitch in his left arm.

Harry looked at the boy sitting next to him. He was calm and collected and wasn't fidgeting like Harry was. He had glowing, golden skin and bright blue eyes and his chocolate brown hair was pulled back in a beanie (to be honest, Harry preferred the fringe down and in his face, but it didn't matter because Louis was beautiful anyway).

The click from the door drew Harry's attention to the man coming into the room followed by Simon and another brown-haired woman. He wore a suit and carried a briefcase. He looked like a typical business man.

"Glad you could come, boys." The man said, sitting down behind the desk.

"Why _are_ we here?" Louis asked.

"Well, it's come to our attention that you two are in a relationship." The man answered. Harry smiled and Louis licked his lips. He was still getting used to the fact that he was gay or bi or pan or whatever he was. Harry, on the other hand, knew he liked boys since he was thirteen.

"What about it?" Harry asked.

"First off, I'm very happy that you boys found somebody you love," Both Louis and Harry smiled. "but I hate to say that we can't let the public know."

"What?"

"Why?"

"You guys are loved by millions of people. There are girls out there who fantasize about being with all of you boys and that's part of the reason One Direction, and every other boy band, is so successful. If we let out that you two are in a relationship, it would crush those girls' hearts and sales for the band would go down."

"So, we don't tell the fans and I'm guessing no PDA?" Louis asked.

"Right," The man answered. "and just to make sure the fans have no idea, we've decided to hire a beard."

"Are you joking?" Harry asked. "A beard, really?"

The man nodded, "But, not for you, Harry. For Louis." Louis paled.

"What?" He asked, his voice cracking. harry put his hand over Louis' on the arm of the chair.

"Why does Louis have to be the one with the beard?" Harry asked.

Simon finally spoke up, "Because, whether you like it or not, Harry, you're the favorite of most of the fans, and we don't want a repeat of what happened when Justin and Selena announced they were dating."

"Except Selena isn't a beard." Harry pointed out.

"That doesn't matter. Louis needs to be the one with the beard." The man said. For a few seconds, the room was silent.

"This is all for the sake of the band?" Harry asked. The man, Simon, and the brown-haired lady nodded in sync. Harry took a deep breath. "I'm okay with it if Lou is."

And all of a sudden, all eyes were on Louis.

"O-okay." He choked out, his voice small. Harry rubbed circles on the back of his hand with his thumb. The man smiled.

"Good." He said. "Katie, could you go get her?" He asked the brown-haired lady. She nodded and left the room to bring back a pretty girl with wavy brown hair parted in the middle. She wore a white collared shirt and denim high waisted shorts. "Boys," The man started, getting up, walking over to the girl and putting his hand on her shoulder. "I'd like to introduce you to Eleanor."


	2. Chapter 2

"I really fucking hate crowds."

Louis grinds his teeth, trying his best to resist the urge of throwing a hissy fit right there in the olympic arena in front of everyone. Eleanor is sweet and she is, more or less, a friend, but when did she get so whiny?

"Just a few more hours, Miss Calder." The tiny speakers in both of their ears crackle and they both jump a bit, Eleanor's hand flying out of Louis' to fidget at her ear. "Just both of you try to look like you're having a good time."

"But we're not," Eleanor and Louis mutter at almost the same time. Out of his peripheral vision, Louis sees Eleanor offer him a small smile, but he turns away. "I'm going to go get something to drink." The speaker in his ear doesn't crackle, and Eleanor nods slowly before shooting her eyebrows up in realization. "Oh, oh, okay, cool."

Harry's in the quiet, closed-off room when Louis arrives, and he takes in the view- the whole stadium, plus a brilliant view of the sky. Harry's leaning against the window. "Look at this, they've got me locked in here like an animal."

Louis sighs, rubbing his thumb over the creased skin between his eyebrows. "The others are here too, aren't they?" He looks around. "Where did they go?"

Harry shrugs, eyes still on the stadium. Probably looking for Eleanor. "Niall went to the restaurant downstairs. I think one of them is in the toilets but I'm not sure."

"You know I'd much rather be up here with you than down there with her, right?" Louis says quietly, only slightly pleading, and Harry finally turns and gives him a tired smile. "She's helping us, Harry, remember?"

"Yeah, I know," the younger boy says quietly, reaching out and taking Louis' hands in his. "You say she's real nice, yeah?"

Louis nods, a smile growing on his face. "She can be whiny and annoying as hell, but she's at least sympathetic about everything. And she hates this all as much as we do. She had a real boyfriend, you know, but he broke up with her because of it. And she never sees her friends anymore."

"I don't like her, still," Harry says, nose crinkling up adorably. Louis laughs and tucks a curl behind his boyfriend's ear. "That's okay. Nobody said you had to."

"Mr. Tomlinson, it's about time you return with some drinks." Louis flinches at the sudden static and Harry drops his eyes to the ground, his hands slipping from Louis'. "Go on. It's okay. I'll make you dinner tonight and we can talk then, okay?"

Louis nods, pressing a soft kiss to Harry's cheek before walking out, Harry shutting the door quietly behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's really short and that makes me sad! But the next chapter is longer!
> 
> -Elsa


	3. Chapter 3

Taylor had signed the contract. 

It was her own stupid idiotic mistake- oh, maybe this will help them out, because maybe they're just not ready- but Harry had cried on the phone with her and Eleanor had yelled at her (she hadn't even met the girl) and she wanted to undo everything.

The room is bright white lights and bright white walls and several men in suits. She's in pajamas because it's not like they deserve to see her at her best. "Is the flat suiting you well?"

She nods once, determinedly not looking at any of them. She should be happy, her own manager tells her, because it was a smart choice and she'll be getting more publicity and money than ever. But she had broken up with Conor and even though neither her nor Ed had called anything off in so many words, it felt like whatever what if they had had between them had dissipated too, because she couldn't be seen around with any other boy now. Not even Ed. And he wasn't talking to her anyway.

"You're free to go, Miss Swift," one of the faceless men says to her, and she nearly trips getting out of her chair, because her eyes are burning and she can not get away fast enough. She stops at the door, though, one hand lingering on the knob. She turns around and for the first time that day, she makes eye contact with one of them. "When do I have to start?"

His face remains blank. "We'll be contacting you sometime within a month or two."

She nods again, ducking her head down. She's barely outside the room when one of the men calls out, "oh, and good job on that song you we hired you to write- what was it called again?"

"I Knew You Were Trouble," she says back, voice shaking, pressing her hands over her ears. "I knew that this would be trouble." 

|||

Zayn smokes. And drinks. And fucks around with girls. And smokes some more.

They've brought in Perrie now, because Little Mix apparently isn't doing as well as it could be, and when the boys signed up to be a band, they never thought they'd be signing up for this.

Eleanor's dropped out of uni- "what's the point," she mutters to Zayn and Niall one morning as they stop to chat with her during breakfast in a hotel in New York, a pile of muffins on her plate. "It's not like I'll ever be free of the fucking contracts."

They make her look like an idiot on twitter- well, they make them all look like idiots on twitter- but the way they play Eleanor's role makes her the perfect candidate for hate.

Niall tries to hold everyone together, trying to get Eleanor and Harry bond (but Harry just cries and then Eleanor cries), trying to drag Zayn along to Little Mix's concerts (but he and Perrie fucking hate each other, honestly)- he's the one that shaved Liam's head, and actually, that idea wasn't so bad, because "with a break up comes a haircut!" somehow worked for Liam.

No one touches on whatever Louis is feeling. Zayn sees it, and sometimes he thinks he catches Louis talking to Eleanor about it, all hushed whispers and more tears in her eyes, but no one else has the nerve to bring it up. No one knows what it is, really, except for Louis and maybe Eleanor.

If Harry sees it, he doesn't say anything.

|||

"How have you been?"

Zayn turns around in the cold air, cigarette in hand, and is surprised to see Perrie. He frowns, trying to remember if they had a public appearance scheduled for today, but he can't remember.

Her face is hard and she talks like she can read his mind. "We didn't have anything set up for today. Eleanor and I are going shopping." She kicks a small rock in the alley with the toe of her boot and looks up again. "Heard you lot were all crashing here for a while."

"Sometimes we like to be close," Zayn says carefully, lifting the cigarette back to his lips.

Perrie lets out a laugh, short and rough, a grin on her face. "Right, and I'm clearly not part of whatever you all have going on."

Zayn shakes his head. "You're right, you're not."

She leans closer and pulls the cigarette from between his lips, placing it delicately between her own and taking a long drag. "Don't forget that I'm handcuffed to a wall, too," she says, and blows a cloud of smoke across his face. Zayn closes his eyes and inhales smoke and cold air and Perrie.

Eleanor walks out the back door then, wrapping a scarf around her neck. "Sorry that took a bit. I had to pack my bags." She links her arm through Perrie's, a tired smile on her face.

Perrie raises her eyebrows, a confused expression moving across her face. "You going back to Manchester?"

Eleanor shrugs. "Yeah, um, Harry... Harry thought that I had overstayed my welcome for the time being. And it's not like I've not missed home," she adds quickly, smiling that fake smile that broke everyone's hearts, even if they wouldn't admit it. "It's my mum's birthday soon, anyhow. Although they might send Louis out for that, I'm not sure."

Perrie tilts her head onto Eleanor's shoulder and starts to walk them out the alley. "Well, let's talk about it over coffee, yeah?" Zayn can hear them talking all down the alley until they turn and disappear out of his sight.

He realizes he never answered Perrie's initial question. "I've not been well," he says to the smoke and bricks and dirt, and then he stubs out the cigarette and goes back inside.


	4. Chapter 4

"So things with Louis aren't very good at the moment?" Perrie asks Eleanor, who's sipping at her complicated coffee. When she had ordered it, she seemed to be going too fast even for the cashier and she had to repeat it at least twice and Perrie thought  _maybe this girl has too much coffee_.  
  
"Have they ever, really?" Eleanor asks. "I mean, Harry said at first that he was fine with everything but he can't even talk to me without crying and then I start crying and I feel  _so bad_. I can't imagine what it must be like to see the person you love loving someone else, even if it's not real, you know? I just," Eleanor looks up from her coffee and Perrie can see tears welling up in her eyes. "I don't know what to do."  
  
Perrie almost cries too because Eleanor looks fragile and weak like she doesn't know if she can take it much longer but she chokes back the tears.  
  
She reaches over and puts her hand over Eleanor's, "Everything's going to be okay, I promise. You're helping them, remember?"  
  
"Doesn't feel like it." Eleanor mutters to her half empty coffee cup.  
  
"I know, but you really are. There are so many close-minded people out there that if they came out, things would be ten times worse than they are now," She sighs. "Believe me, I know how this business works."  
  
Eleanor nods, "Okay," She looks up at Perrie, "Yeah, I believe you. Thank you."  
  
Perrie smiles, "Anytime, love."  
  
Eleanor returns the smile.  
  
•  
  
Two hours later, Eleanor comes home to find Louis pacing and crying and pacing and crying and pacing and crying.  
  
"Louis?" She asks. "What's wrong?"  
  
Louis freezes at the sound of her voice but continues pacing after he realizes it's her. He doesn't answer her question, though.  
  
"Louis," Eleanor starts a little slower now, "Lou, you know you can talk to me. What's wrong?" there's a moment of silence before  
  
"EVERYTHING!" He bursts out, "Everything, everything is wrong."  
  
"Louis, calm dow-"  
  
"I can't calm down, Eleanor, I just can't, I've tried, I've tried everything, and I just can't."  
  
"Lou, plea-"  
  
"You wanna know what's wrong, El? I found Harry crying into his bowl of cereal this morning after you left, he's gotten that bad. I tried to comfort him, I tried so hard but then I just started crying and I left the room for two seconds and," He stops and turns to Eleanor. "He was gone, El, he just up and left and now I don't know where he is. I've asked the others if they've seen him, I've called him, I've texted him and I've gotten no response and I'm so worried." Louis puts his hands on his forehead and starts pacing again, yelling, " _God_ , nothing is right, this is all a big mistake, I should have never agreed to thi-"  
  
"Louis!" Eleanor grabs his wrists and stops him. "All of this is my fault too, okay? I agreed to cover for you guys and I wouldn't have if I had known it would be this bad. I'm so sorry, Lou, I really am." Louis stares at her for a moment then silently starts crying. This is when Eleanor notices.  
  
She takes her hand off of Louis' left wrist and looks down at her hand.  
  
"Blood," She whispers and looks back up at him. "Louis, you didn't." He replies with a whimper. "Oh, love," She slips her hand into his. "Let's get you cleaned up."  
  
Eleanor leads Louis to the nearest bathroom. He sits on on the edge of the bath and after wetting a washcloth she sits on the toilet. She starts dabbing at the fresh cut and Louis winces at first then relaxes.  
  
"Why?" Eleanor asks.  
  
"You know damn well why." Louis answers.  
  
"But why did it lead you to this?"  
  
Louis thinks for a second then shrugs, "Needed to feel something, I guess." He says. Eleanor replies with a "hmm" and continues cleaning the wound, then putting neosporin on it. She begins wrapping it with a bandage, but Louis protests, "It's too noticeable," he looks at Eleanor with pleading eyes, "No one else can know."  
  
"You sprained it, yeah?" Eleanor says.  
  
"Yeah," Louis agrees. "Yeah, okay."  
  
She finishes wrapping the bandage then gives Louis a sad smile.  
  
"Please don't make this a habit, Lou. I really don't want you hurting yourself." Louis nods. "Never again?" She asks.  
  
Louis licks his lips and says, "Okay." and leaves it at that.


	5. Chapter 5

"That hurt about as much as petting a kitten!" Perrie's throwing clothes angrily in her bag when Eleanor walks in, face flushed red and lilac hair wild. "Honestly, is that all you've got?"  
  
"Why are you still here?" Zayn takes a long drag on his cigarette, raising a hand in a lazy wave towards where Eleanor stands crouched in the corner. When Zayn and Perrie fight- which is often- it's intense, dramatic, and often legendary. They do share a flat, but it's purely for the contract's purposes, obviously, and when they fight the sounds of yelled profanities and breaking china can be heard down the block.  
  
And honestly, who was the idiot that decided to pair them up?  
  
"Um," Eleanor tries weakly, nudging aside a broken flower vase so she can inch towards them. "Um, I know it's not a good time, but it's Jay's wedding day and we all promised Lou we'd go, so-"  
  
"Yeah, yes, I know!" Perrie snaps, kicking an empty trash can in Zayn's general direction. She grabs her bag and her phone and storms out of the flat, brushing Eleanor aside in a very non-Perrie way.  
  
The brunette turns towards Zayn. "Sorry," she says, scrunching her nose. "She's probably at that time of the month."  
  
Zayn lets out a laugh, probably mostly for her benefit, and touches her shoulder affectionately on his way out. "Maybe she is, yeah. But I am  _not_ sitting next to her in the car."  
  
•  
  
"You look lovely, Miss Calder."  
  
Eleanor turns, smiling at the blonde boy approaching and holding a drink in each hand. "As do you, Mr. Horan."  
  
Niall makes a face, causing Eleanor to laugh, and says "Yeah, that doesn't quite sound right." They're leaning against the railing on the gazebo, watching the wedding guests dance shoeless in the sand on the beach. Louis pulled a lot of strings to get the wedding set up beachfront, but it's Louis and he's completely selfless.  
  
Niall takes a sip from his straw, nearly draining it. "You need a break, you know," he says, mostly nonchalant, but Eleanor can see him looking at her out of the corner of his eye.  
  
She waves her hand dismissively, throwing her messily curled hair back in the wind. "I get paid to do this. And besides, I love you guys. You're all so kind and understanding." She tilts her head back as another breeze comes in, saltwater touching her skin.  
  
When she opens her eyes, Niall's looking at her funny, and she frowns. "What about you, though? How are things coming with Amy?" She rests her elbows on the wooden railing and puts her chin in her palms, like they're two teenage girls sharing secrets, and Niall laughs.  
  
"Well, they're- they're not?" He says, making another weird face like he doesn't quite know what to say. "I mean, we're just friends. That's all. Louis and Harry tried to- well, they tried to get us together, but as it happens I'm curious about someone else."  
  
Niall laughs again when Eleanor's face splits into an excited grin, and she's about to say something completely silly like "spill your dark dirty secrets" when Louis touches her elbow, a small smile on his face.  
  
"We're gonna talk about this later, alright?" She calls over her shoulder as Louis pulls her along by her hand, tripping over her dress. "You're gonna tell me! I'll get it out of you!"  
  
She and Niall smile at each other through the throng of people until they're each swallowed up by the crowd.  
  
•  
  
Harry calls Taylor. He doesn't really know what else to do.  
  
She finds him too far up the beach, his shoes and suit jacket thrown off and his knees pulled up to his chin. She sits down wordlessly next to him, pulling a quilt over his shoulders and smoothing his hair back from his forehead. "Hey."  
  
"Hi," he says, and his voice is so small. He  _looks_  so small, even though he towers above most people, and something in Taylor's chest shatters a bit. She tucks a curl behind his ear. "Do you wanna talk about it?"  
  
He shakes his head a few times, working his fingers through the soft sand before looking up at her and squinting. "Hey, you're not wearing any make up."  
  
Taylor laughs once, a little awkward, because she can pretend to not give a damn about how she looks but she doesn't really like to talk about it. "Yeah. I wanted to come as soon as I could just in case... well, I wanted to be sure you were okay."  
  
They're quiet for a bit before Taylor pulls out a bag of gummy bears and some magazines- music for Harry, fashion for her- and he gives her a watery smile of thanks before they recline in the sand and eat and read and make fun of various people until the sun goes down and it's time to go home.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> we're so sorry this took forever but we're back!!

It becomes a regular thing, really.

Something will happen that gets Harry upset and he’ll call Taylor and she’ll tell him to come over and they’ll sit and read magazines together or watch TV together and eat junk food and it makes Harry feel better – at least a little – and relaxed.

So on the not-so-rare occasion they have to go out in public and hold hands and pretend they’re dating, it’s not uncomfortable. The thing the fans point out the most, though, is that Harry looks sad around Taylor because, well, yeah. Harry  _is_  sad. He’s being forced to go on fake dates with a girl he barely knows (not that Taylor isn’t a lovely girl because she is) while the person he’s actually in a relationship with is with  _his_  fake girlfriend and they never get to spend time together. Hell, they’re not even allowed to sit or stand next to each other in interviews anymore and it’s all just very frustrating. So, yeah, Harry is sad.

They're sitting on Taylor's back porch, her iPod plugged into speakers and playing quiet music. She has this app that generates sounds like ocean waves and crickets chirping and Harry likes it.

"Do you want me to paint your nails?" Taylor holds up the polish wand with bright red paint on it, pausing from painting her own nails. 

Instead of saying  _yes please, I like that color_ , Harry says, "What does it feel like to have your heart broken?"

Taylor blinks, and after a moment she settles the wand back in its bottle and stretches her long legs out so her toes can dry in the small pool of sunlight. "You don't know?"

Harry shakes his head.

Taylor tilts her head to the side, squinting one eye. "It's kind of like when you're on stage, and you're doing awesome and you have that huge adrenaline rush that makes you feel like you could do anything. Well, that's love. You've felt that. But heartbreak is like when you mess up a note, and it's like all that wonderful emotion was for nothing. Gone and not coming back." She shrugs. "The situation is different for everyone, but the feeling is universal."

She wiggles her toes, flopping back to lay across her porch, eying Harry warily. "Before you even think it, no, you do not have a broken heart."

Harry juts out his chin, feeling a little bit like a stubborn little kid. "And why's that?"

She closes her eyes against the sun. Harry notices she has little freckles dotting her face. "Because Louis isn't gone from you. And even if he was, he'd come back."

* * *

 

“Do you think he even misses me?” Louis asks Niall and Eleanor one morning while they’re eating breakfast. Eleanor looks at him like he’s crazy and Niall almost spits out his cereal.

“Do we think he even misses you?!”

“Are you seriously asking that?”

Louis shrugs. “We’ve barely talked for the past two or three days. It’s like he wants nothing to do with me anymore.”

“No, no, no,” Eleanor says as she stands up from where she had been sitting, runs over to Louis and kneels down next to him, holding his hand. “Harry loves you very much, more than you know.”

Niall nods, “You know Harry. If he was done, he would tell you upfront. He would not just ignore you or cheat on you. He cares about you way too much.”

Eleanor nods quickly, agreeing with Niall and then looks back up at Louis.

“Yeah, you guys are right,” Louis says, looking from Eleanor to Niall. “It’s just hard not to be paranoid, you know?”

“I know, Lou,” Niall says. “By the way, why is your wrist wrapped?”

Louis’ eyes widen slightly and he looks to Eleanor, who gives him a soft smile.

“He sprained it,” She tells Niall while she’s still looking at Louis and then looks at Niall and gives him a smile, too. “It should be fine in a couple of days.”

Niall puts another spoonful of cereal in his mouth, “Mm, sucks.”

Eleanor looks back at Louis, pats his hand and gets up to go back to her seat. The three of them finish their breakfasts in silence.

 

* * *

 

Louis is taking a shower and Niall is washing the dishes and Eleanor is drying them and when they’re done, Eleanor hops up onto the counter and starts swinging her legs.

“Mr. Horan, I believe there is something you need to tell me,” She says and Niall looks at her, eyebrows raised.

“Oh, there is?” He asks.

“Yep.”

Niall leans on the counter next to her, “And what would that be?”

“At Jay’s wedding you said there was someone you’re curious about and you have yet to tell me who,” Eleanor explains, a smirk playing on her lips.

“Ah, that,” Niall sighs. “I don’t think I’ll tell you yet.”

Eleanor pouts and whines, “Why not?”

Niall shrugs, “Not the right time yet.”

“The right time? Really?” Eleanor asks. “Why, is it someone I know?”

“You could say that,” He answers, chuckling.

“Tell me!” Eleanor says, hitting her hands against the counter. Niall just shakes his head and Eleanor groans and jumps off the counter. “You are impossible.”

“That’s me, Mr. Niall ‘Impossible’ Horan.”

“Your middle name is James.”

 

* * *

 

Perrie’s sitting in a chair with a laptop and Zayn’s smoking another cigarette while waiting for his food to finish in the microwave and Perrie doesn’t think she can take the smell anymore.

“Could you do that outside where it doesn’t stink up the place? It’s the least you could do, seeing as I’m being forced to be here,” She asks.

Zayn shrugs, “This is my place; I can do whatever I want.” 

“Oh, and you don’t respect your own flat? Shame, really. I’d think you’d at least have the decency to take care of your own living space,” Perrie says, only half sarcastic. Zayn rolls his eyes and flicks his cigarette into the nearest trash can where it bursts into flames. “God dammit, Zayn!”

Zayn’s eyes widen and he runs to get the fire extinguisher. When he comes back, the fire is out, Perrie’s holding a pot and there’s a puddle of water on the floor. Zayn just looks at her.

“What have we learned here?” Perrie asks, putting the pot on the counter next to her.

“Fine!” Zayn yells as he goes to put the fire extinguisher back. “I’ll smoke outside from now on.”

“That’s all I ask,” Perrie explains calmly as she walks back to her laptop.

“Who were the idiots who decided we would be a good match?” Zayn mutters under his breath as he takes his food out of the microwave.

“Don’t know,” Perrie answers. Zayn jumps; he didn’t mean for her to hear that. “But it’s good for both of our careers so might as well just go along with it.”

Later that same night Zayn gets woken up by the sound of Perrie's bathroom door shutting a little too forcefully. When he looks at his clock and sees the little red "2:36" he scowls, planning on just going back to sleep, but of course then Perrie's  _bedroom_  door shuts loudly. 

"God." Zayn clambers out of bed, tugging on a sweater he finds on the floor, and makes his way blearily out into the hall. The door to Perrie's room is open and he can see a faint light from it, and while he's shuffling towards it, he can start to hear what's going on.

Perrie's talking, voice an octave too high and shaky. He can hear another voice, too- Eleanor- and judging by the crackly quality to her tone, he figures Perrie must have her on speakerphone for some reason.

"Darling, just take a deep breath," Eleanor says, managing to not sound tired. "Just think this through. When did your mum leave the voicemail?"

"An hour ago!" Perrie's close to crying now, and for some reason that surprises Zayn, because she's always got this tough girl exterior when she's around him. He peeks in the doorway, and sees that Perrie's got her suitcase open and is throwing items into it. "I might already be too late. Can you drive me to the hospital?"

Eleanor hesitates. "Perrie, I- you know I wish I could, love, but I'm staying up with Louis at the moment. He's... not feeling too well, so I just want to make sure that he's okay." She pauses. "You could always ask Zayn."

Perrie makes a sound somewhere between a snort and a laugh, and that's when she dissolves into tears. She hangs up the phone and plops down on her bed, her shoulders sagging, and that's when she notices Zayn hovering in the doorway. "God! You scared me."

He knows that they have their differences and that most of the time they'd quite like to strangle each other, but he's never seen Perrie like this. He makes his way carefully through the clothes on her floor, kneeling on his knees in front of where she's sitting on the bed and taking her hands in his. "Perrie," he says, making her look at him. "What's wrong?"

Her face screws up and she starts to cry again, and Zayn rubs his thumb across her hand in what he hopes is a soothing manner. Once she's calmed herself down to be able to talk normally, she says "My brother got in a car accident and he's in the hospital. I can't drive but I need to go be with my brother."

Zayn doesn't even hesitate; just helps her stand and zip up her suitcase and tells her to wait by the door while he goes to pack his own bag. Perrie's hometown is a good long drive away, so he brings some food and a change of clothes in case they stay long. When he gets back to where Perrie is leaning against the front door, jacket pulled over her pajamas, she asks him "Why are you doing this?"

"Because what kind of person would I be if I didn't?" He unlocks the front door and helps her outside.


End file.
